On April Fools' Day 2010, we made a second attempt at summiting nearby Mt. Suswa. We had tried walking from our house to Suswa with Dad Kistler but came up short and ended up very sore. The score stood at Suswa: 1, Kistlers: 0. This time we had a new gameplan.
With Ned and Steph we decided we were headed for the summit. So instead of trying to go door-to-door, we'd take motorcycles to the foot of the mountain, saving 2 hours of our trip. This way we'd be at the top by noon and be going downhill in the heat of the day. At 6:15 our motorcycles arrived at our door and we were off.
The roads were slick with mud and on the way both bikes fell at least once, and one had a flat tire. None of this deterred us and we started our ascent by 7. The morning was overcast, perfect for climbing a mountain. We had no guide, but hoped that we would not need one. When our friend Simion guided us before, it seemed like he was blazing his own trail, so we looked to do the same.
Progress went quickly. We walked straight up the mountain and by 9:30 we were beyond the highest point we reached with dad. By 10, the summit was in our sites and we charged up the final cliffs. The mountain would not go down easily however. The peak seemed to move further and further away as we approached it. Despite this, by 11:30, we reached a beautiful lookout near the summit above the crater. We ate lunch there and Ned and I made our way up the last bit to try and reach the highest peak. Ned had brought a sign to nail to a tree and mark a spot on Suswa for himself. After finding a suitable tree we turned home in triumph.
It took another 4 hours to walk back to Najile. It was nearly 5:30 before we were home but we had conquered the mountain. We were tired and sore, but could honestly say we had evened the score with Suswa. Suswa: 1, Kistlers: 1.
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